Sunday, August 24, 2014

Photo:
PNG's Mosquitos celebrate after winning the AFL International Cup by just three points from Ireland at the MCG (Twitter: @AFLIC14)

Papua New Guinea's national Australian Rules team are
the International Cup champions after a three-point win at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Mosquitos scraped home against a strong Ireland side, reversing the result of the previous grand final in 2011.
Goal-kicking captain, Mick Finn, gave Ireland a strong start, kicking the first two goals of the match.
Ireland
stayed in front for three quarters and PNG went into the final quarter
three points behind, 3.8 (26) to Ireland's 4.5 (29).
The Mosquitos then hit the lead for the first time through Brendan Beno before Finn responded immediately with his fourth goal.
John Ikupu put PNG in front with four minutes to go and Gideon Simon followed up to put the Mosquitos nine points ahead.
The two late goals were enough and the side lead by John James Lavai took out the championship, 6.9 (45) to 6.6 (42).
The Cup's been held every three years since 2002, bringing together fans of Australian Rules football from some unlikely places.
PNG has been the only team to make all four grand finals and now has won the championship twice.
Teams
fronted up from Finland and Sweden, France and Britain, Canada and the
US, Ireland, Japan, India, Indonesia, China, Pakistan and South Africa.
There were also teams from Pacific nations PNG, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

2015 Pacific Games is pleased to announce two domestic television broadcasters who will provide coverage of the Games.
They are EMTV and Click Pacific Ltd who have signed on as non exclusive domestic right holders for the 2015 Pacific Games.
EMTV
will be PNG’s lead broadcaster of the 2015 Pacific Games.
In this
capacity they will be working closely with the Host Broadcaster in
shared efforts to broadcast up to 24 hours a day coverage of the Pacific
Games on free-to-air TV throughout PN, as well as streaming and mobile
coverage..
EMTV will be the exclusive broadcaster of the opening and closing ceremonies in PNG.
They will also be streaming coverage through
the internet and to mobile applications.CEO of EMTV and Media
Niugini Ltd Bhanu Sud said, EMTV’s mass market television coverage
across PNG means that our people will be able to watch and enjoy the
performance of team PNG at the Games.“We are thrilled with the
opportunity to bring to our countrywide viewers first class Games
coverage, featuring daily highlights and analysis of Team PNG across all
sporting disciplines.
" On the 10th of September we will be launching an
exciting show called the “Road to Port Moresby 2015 Games, which will
feature progressive updates of preparations for the Games”.Click
Pacific Ltd will be the “2015 Pacific Games Channel” and will be
broadcasting up to 24 hours a day of Games on pay TV throughout PNG and
the Pacific.Click Pacific, a new television company who will be
launching their new service in PNG in October, will offer its
subscribers high definition coverage of the Pacific Games, making it the
first ever Games offered in HD.Richard Broadbridge , CEO of Click,
also added, “as a new Pay TV station the opportunity to join in the
broadcast of the Games gives our company a great marketing platform. We
are very confident that the subscribers who sign up for our service will
appreciate the unique coverage and programming that a Pay TV station
such as Click will provide”.CEO of the 2015 Pacific Games Peter
Stewart says both companies are investing significant resources into
production in order that PNG viewers get maximum coverage of the Pacific
Games, and they will be joined by other companies who will broadcast
the Games outside of PNG to the rest of the Pacific and to the rest of
the world.“These two companies have demonstrated that there is a
huge market and appetite for the Pacific Games in PNG.
Betwe"en them
almost 50 hours of Pacific Games coverage will be available every day to
viewers. "The people of PNG will be well served by the offerings these
companies will provide—the excitement of Port Moresby will be shared
across this great country.“The 2015 Pacific Games is for all
of Papua New Guinea and coverage of the Games to as many parts of the
country through the engagement of these broadcasters brings the Games
right to peoples homes, making the Games truly Papua New Guinean”.Announcement of the additional rights, including radio coverage is expected to be made in the next few weeks

Sunday, August 17, 2014

A World Bank Group report released on Friday August 15 says that eight
in ten businesses in Papua New Guinea suffer substantial losses and security
costs as a result of high rates of crime and violence, slowing business
expansion and hampering the country’s economic development.

More than 80
percent of 135 companies surveyed said their business decisions are negatively
influenced by the country’s law and order situation, with crime significantly
increasing the cost of doing business.

The expense of avoiding criminal damage
limits firms’ ability to grow, deters start-ups, and imposes significant
long-term social costs on the country.

“Crime in
Papua New Guinea constrains businesses and threatens to put the brakes on the
economy,” said Carolyn Blacklock, Resident Representative in Papua New
Guinea for IFC, the member of the World Bank Group that focuses on private
sector development in emerging markets. “Local firms not only struggle to be
competitive as they seek to manage crime, but they also pass on these costs to
consumers via higher prices, less choice, and the absence of new products and
services. This is bad not just for business, but the economy as a whole.”The World
Bank Group report, entitled “The Cost of Crime and Violence to Businesses,”
draws on a survey and interviews conducted with the local business community,
and is the first study in the country to comprehensively assess the impact of
crime and violence on local enterprise. The report
finds that security in particular represents a significant and growing expense
for businesses. 84 percent of the country’s firms pay for security hardware,
such as installing specialised gates and security alarms, which is 30 percent
higher than the average in the East Asia and Pacific region. Hiring private
security consumes on average five percent of firms’ annual operating costs.
Companies are
also suffering direct losses averaging K89,000 ($33,000) per year from stolen
property and about K71,000 ($26,000) annually to petty theft by employees. 38.5
percent of companies reported closing their businesses early each day to avoid
becoming victims of crime, resulting in losses of income estimated at an
average of K93,000 ($34,000) per year.“Everybody
in PNG is losing money and time to crime,” said Alys Willman, World Bank
Social Development Specialist and co-author of the report.“While the
report assesses direct losses from crime and violence, we can never calculate
the investment foregone, the expansions to new products and areas that never
happened, the number of businesses that never opened their doors, or the jobs
that were never created because the costs of security were too high. These
costs are all passed on to consumers – and everybody suffers.” Businesses
are also worried about broader social costs, the report found.High
levels of crime and violence create fear, which constrains the movements of
staff and customers and stigmatizes the young, who are often seen to be
perpetrators of violence and crime. Domestic violence, in particular, intrudes
into the workplace, contributing to absenteeism and affecting morale and
productivity of staff.Official
police data, and data from Government-led victimization surveys, suggests that
crime has stabilized in the country over the last decade, though there are
significant disparities across regions. There is evidence however that violent
crime may be increasing as a proportion of overall crime, especially in
recognized ‘hotspots’ such as the Western Highlands, Madang, Lae and the
National Capital District. In Lae, incidence of violent crime more than doubled
in 2010 compared with 2008. The World
Bank report is part of its wider Research and Dialogue Series on the
socioeconomic costs and drivers of crime and violence in Papua New Guinea.
Carried out at the request of the PNG government, the report draws on an
extensive review of existing data, a survey of 135 businesses conducted by the
PNG Institute of National Affairs, in-depth interviews with business owners,
and consultations with businesses and employees carried out from 2012 to 2014.Key
findings:

67 percent of
businesses that took part in the survey said crime was a major constraint on
their business, a higher rate than in El Salvador (51 percent), Venezuela (60
percent) and Democratic Republic of Congo (63 percent);

81 percent of
businesses reported that their decisions to further invest in or expand their
operations were affected by the country’s poor law and order situation; only 3
percent said that their decisions were not affected at all'

84 percent of
companies said they pay for security in the form of security personnel or
hardware. This is significantly higher than the average of 52 percent for the
East Asia and Pacific region/

More than two‐thirds of businesses
use private security services, which costs an average of 5 percent of their
annual operating costs. About 30 percent of firms said that hiring private
security accounts for at least 10 percent of their annual costs'

Businesses reported
losing an average of K89,000 ($33,000) per year to stolen property and K71,000
($26,000) to petty theft by employees. 38.5 percent reported closing early to
avoid victimization, which cost an average of K93,000 ($34,000) per year in
lost earnings.

Sunday, August 03, 2014

The Commonwealth
Games Federation has determined that Nigerian weightlifter, Chika
Amalaha, has committed an anti-doping rule violation and has fully
suspended her from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

As a result, Ms Amalaha has been disqualified from her event at the
Games, with her result in the Women’s Weightlifting 53 kilogram
competition nullified.

Ms Amalaha has returned her gold medal and Glasgow 2014 Quaich.

The ruling follows a hearing before the CGF’s Federation Court, presided
by HRH Prince Imran, after the analysis of both A and B samples
confirmed the adverse analytical findings of amiloride and
hydrochlorothiazide, both prohibited as diuretics and masking agents
under class s5 of WADA’s Prohibited List.

Ms Amalaha did not contest the findings at her hearing before the Federation Court in Glasgow today.

The gold medal for the woman’s weightlifting 53-kilogram competition
will now be awarded to Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea, with the silver
going to Santoshi Matsa of India and the bronze to Swati Singh, also of
India.

Toua lifted 193 kilograms in the competition to set a new Commonwealth Games record.

In accordance with the CGF Anti-Doping Standards the documents
pertaining to Ms Amalaha have now been referred to the IWF and WADA for
their further consideration.

Friday, August 01, 2014

Flowers make me feel good on this beautiful first morning of August. — at Glory Garden Estate, 8-Mile.

On this first morning of August, I notice
that the heliconias my late sister Alison gave to me at home at Butibam
village in Lae last November, and which were planted by my late mum, are
finally flowering. I feel it's a good sign.

Watching pollination taking place I thought I was back in biology classes at high school.

Pacific leaders have for the first time chosen a woman to head the region's premier representative group.

Papua
New Guinea's Dame Meg Taylor, a senior World Bank official, will become
the next Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat.

Dame Meg Taylor DBE is a Papua New Guinean lawyer and diplomat.
She received her LL.B degree from Melbourne University, Australia, and her LL.M degree from Harvard University, USA

In
nominating her for the role in May, PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill
said Dame Meg had "a wealth of experience and knowledge that spanned 20
years in active service to the Government of Papua New Guinea".
Dame Meg Taylor was PNG's ambassador to the United States, Mexico and Canada from 1989 to 1994.
Pacific
leaders meeting in Palau have also agreed to automatically lift Fiji's
suspension from the Forum if the country's elections in September are
deemed to be free and fair.
Australia will head the election observer group.

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